A Christian school worker who lost an employment tribunal after claiming she was sacked because of her religious beliefs has won an appeal.
Kristie Higgs was dismissed in 2019 from Farmor’s School in Fairford, Gloucestershire, for gross misconduct after sharing social media posts criticising plans to teach transgenderism and compulsory sex education in schools.
A tribunal in 2022 agreed that her Facebook posts on LGBT relationships in primary schools were potentially homophobic or transphobic.
Handing down the judgement, Dame Jennifer Eady said: “The freedom to manifest belief (religious or otherwise) and to express views relating to that belief are essential rights in any democracy, whether or not the belief in question is popular or mainstream and even if its expression may offend.”
Eady criticised tribunal judges in Bristol for failing to assess whether the investigation and dismissal of Higgs “were prescribed by law and were necessary for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others, recognising the essential nature of [Mrs Higgs’s] rights to freedom of belief and freedom of expression.”
The mother-of-two, from Fairford, shared and commented on posts that raised concerns about relationship education at her son’s Church of England primary school.
She shared two posts in October 2018 to around 100 friends which referred to “brainwashing” children and “suppressing Christianity and removing it from the public arena.”
‘Nazis Views’
In 2020, Higgs took the school to an employment tribunal arguing she had been unlawfully discriminated against.The school denied dismissing the teaching assistant because of her religious views and said she was sacked because of the language she used in the posts.
Employment judge Derek Reed ruled her dismissal “was the result of a genuine belief on the part of the school that she had committed gross misconduct.”
Higgs appealed the decision over the course of a two-day hearing in March.
The Christian Legal Centre, which is supporting Higgs, said Friday’s ruling sets “a legal precedent which confirms that the Equality Act 2010 protects employees from discrimination not only for their beliefs but also for expression or manifestation of their beliefs.”
In a statement released after the ruling, the mother-of-two said she was pleased with the court’s judgement but remained frustrated over continual delays in receiving justice.
“From the beginning, despite the many attempts by the school to suggest otherwise, this has always been about my Christian beliefs and me being discriminated against for expressing them in my own time,” she said.
“I was, and still am, appalled by the sexual ideology that was being introduced to my son’s Church of England primary school.
“I will never forget the moment, shaking and tearful, that I was ordered to leave the school premises after my Christian beliefs were aligned with Nazism,” she said.
Higgs said that since losing the job she loved, there have been “so many disturbing revelations about transgender ideology in schools” and children being taught inappropriate sex education.
She added: “I feel so justified and vindicated for sharing and expressing the concerns that I did. Christian parents must have the freedom to bring their children up in line with their Christian beliefs.
“I want young children to be protected from transgender ideology and Christians must also be able to share their opinions and beliefs without fear of losing their jobs.”
Shared Petition
Higgs said she was sacked from her school post after a “six-hour interrogation” by school chiefs, who said beliefs, expressed in social posts she had shared, were akin to that of a “pro-Nazi right-wing extremist.”She had made the posts after discovering that the Church of England school attended by her child planned “under the radar” to introduce “No Outsiders” books on gender identity.
The books included “My Princess Boy” and “Red: A Crayon’s Story,” she said.
The first post shared by Higgs to Facebook encouraged friends and family to sign a petition challenging the government’s plans to introduce Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) to children in primary schools.
The post flagged that a government consultation on plans to make RSE mandatory for children as young as four was coming to a close and asked its readers to sign a nationwide petition calling on the government to uphold the rights of parents to have children educated in line with their religious beliefs.
A similar petition was subsequently signed by over 115,000 people and was debated in Parliament.
In the second post, Higgs shared an article from Judybeth.com on the rise of transgender ideology in children’s books in American schools and added her own comment: “This is happening in our primary schools now.”
The article critiqued the same No Outsiders books promoting transgenderism to children in her son’s school.
An anonymous complaint was later sent to the headteacher of Farmor’s School which included allegations of “illegal discrimination,” “serious inappropriate use of social media,” and “online comments that could bring the school into disrepute and damage the reputation of the school.”
She was then sacked for gross misconduct.
The decision was made despite the posts being made under her maiden name on a profile that had no links to her employer.
The Christian Legal Centre said no evidence has ever been found that her posts brought the school into disrepute.
Sex Education Review
In response, Higgs launched legal action for discrimination and harassment on the grounds of her Christian beliefs.Friday’s ruling overturns the previous October 2020 ruling which had upheld her dismissal.
Justice Eady said Bristol Employment Tribunal failed to engage with the question identified in a previous case Eweida and Others v. the United Kingdom (2013).
Had it done so, the judge said it “would have concluded that there was a close or direct nexus between the claimant’s Facebook posts and her protected beliefs.”
She remitted the case back to the Employment Tribunal to be reconsidered in light of her ruling on issues of law.
Setting out a “guidance” for reconsideration of the case as well as for similar cases in the future, Justice Eady said: “First, the foundational nature of the rights must be recognised: the freedom to manifest belief (religious or otherwise) and to express views relating to that belief are essential rights in any democracy, whether or not the belief in question is popular or mainstream and even if its expression may offend.”
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, said that although the ruling was a “win” for Higgs, she should not have to go through another hearing.
“Mrs Justice Eady should have had the courage to exonerate her,” Williams said in a statement Friday. “Instead, she is suggesting a rehearing before the same tribunal that heard the case in the first place.
“We press on in this important case. We are pleased that the force of the facts, in this case, meant the judge had to do the right thing.
“I believe this for all our cases and here the judge couldn’t go anywhere else,” she said.
The Department for Education said: “We are putting together an expert panel that will inform the review and will advise on how to put in place protection from pupils being introduced to things that they are too young to understand properly.
“The panel will also consider how age ratings can be introduced for different parts of the curriculum.”
The review is expected to be completed before the end of 2023.
